(copy and pasted from my Klei support ticket because I'm lazy, and this is mostly unedited.)

For the past year or more, I have been wondering why I was singled out by the "Computer Gods," in that I could not run Don't Starve Together with mods, and yet my friends would have no troubles doing so. Even when I played with my friends on servers they hosted, there were times where enabled mods still wouldn't function on my client side of the server.
Since then, I have been searching why the Steam workshop mods I had subscribed to did not function properly, and displayed in-game as "workshop-#########" with a blank picture, saying each mod needed to be updated.

It is today I have found a half-solution, and I am hoping Klei, or some other individual out there, has some insight to this issue.
When I cross-referenced a few different solutions online, I came up with my own idea to fix my issue. I transferred the files under this: D drive>ProgramFiles(x86)>Steam>steamapps>Workshop which were oddly titled "322330"- the workshop folder which holds each DST workshop file I subscribe to- into the mods folder of DST, under: D drive>ProgramFiles(x86)>Steam>steamapps>common>DST>mods ...
When I moved or copied the files over to the games mods folder, they functioned perfectly.
HOWEVER, the game warned me that these were no longer "Steam workshop mods" because I moved them to the mods folder, away from the steam workshop folder, and that if I wanted to play with anybody using these mods, I would have to get them to individually install them into their mods folder.

What I am curious about, is why this is happening: why the mods wont function in the workshop folder, why they work in the mods folder, and if I could maybe safely transfer any files from the mods folder in the DST files to the workshop folder to get it to work, if I should worry about the files needing to update, since they likely wont auto-update, due to being outside the workshop folder, and finally, if I should worry about the possibility that I would not be able to play with my friends.

Unfortunately, I do not know how to post screenshots to these discussions, however I am willing to edit this or reply with a youtube link of my few screenshots if people care enough. For now though, I will leave this information to the public, and I am considering moving the mod folder to the workshop folder, but I am waiting for anybody elses thoughts.

Thank you for your time.